


See This One Shine

by mizface



Series: Linnet Bird [1]
Category: Canadian 6 Degrees, Harper's Island
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-23
Updated: 2012-01-23
Packaged: 2017-10-29 23:57:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/325528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizface/pseuds/mizface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The girl hadn't been part of the plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	See This One Shine

**Author's Note:**

> VERY spoilery for the series. While this could be read totally as a stand-alone, I consider it a part of my _Linnet Bird_ ‘verse. I was amused and thrilled to see that hazelwho chose me in this exchange, and the prompt (lost and found) made me extremely happy. *twirls hazel* Thanks to lucifuge5 for a rockingly helpful beta!

The girl hadn’t been part of the plan.

That wasn’t precisely true, of course. _Everyone_ in the wedding party, as well as certain islanders, had been factored in and accounted for. Each had their own role to fulfill, Madison Allen included. But once he _really_ saw her, things changed.

Until their arrival on the Island, the bulk of John’s information on the child had come from Henry’s observations. Yes, John had seen her himself, but only from a distance. From that perspective, she’d looked like a target, and one of his easier ones at that. Young, isolated, disregarded by most of the adults in her life… grabbing her would have been child’s play.

Then he got his first real chance to watch her closely, and what he saw was a revelation. Madison had a sharp mind, and an eye for detail that impressed him. She was quiet and observant, with a deep understanding of the value of listening that was rare in anyone, let alone a child. She was disciplined, able to tamp down her need to be seen, waiting for the right time and place to make herself known.

And so the plan changed. John lured her out, catching her keen mind rather than simply capturing her body, bringing her _to_ him rather than taking her _from_ anyone.

He was supposed to kill her, then return the body to her bedroom, settle her in as if she were sleeping, and leave it to be found, not a mark on it. The resulting upset would have made a fine diversion. But that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, he sheltered her, talked with her, listened to her.

Henry should have been furious at the change, would have been if he wasn’t so distracted. There was something going on, something making him lose his focus, forget the goal. John had seen it the moment Henry stepped foot on the shore. He’d known it was a possibility; it took a certain kind of person to do the work John did. Henry was trying, yes, but he lacked the conviction, the total belief in their purpose. For now, though, he was still useful, so John let it go, didn’t push too hard.

Losing his son again would be hard, but in Madison he’d found something, some _one_ better.


End file.
